The Misery Fairy
by moor
Summary: Ryuuren x Shuurei x Eigetsu friendship fic. Modern University AU. Based on the prompt of 'Shell' in the saiun challenge LJ comm. "Roomies!"


**[Week 66] [Word Count 1000+ words] [Theme: Shell]**

**Title: The Misery Fairy**

**Author: beyondthemoor on LJ**

**Genre: humour, fluff, friend-fun-love**

**Word Count: approx... too many! Damnit!  
**

**Rating: light T**

**Characters: Shuurei, Eigetsu, Ryuuren**

**AU/Cannon: Modern University AU**

**Theme: Shell**

AN: For the January 2010 / Week 66 prompt over on the saiun_challenge LJ comm… I kind of failed at keeping to the word-count, so off to the archives it goes!

* * *

"—ugh—I think you need—ugh!—to reconsider the timing of this, Ryuuren!" huffed Eigetsu as he tried to haul his eccentric roommate down from their window ledge and back into their cramped dorm room. Being several years younger, and far less athletically endowed, however, the result was inevitable. He felt the cotton sleeve of Ryuuren's hoodie slip through his grasp, and with a final tug, the campus loon was free to spread his wings.... in the direction of the girls' residence, just across the quad.

"But there is no time like the present, our heart's brother, to deliver such good news to our heart's sister!"

The slighter of the pair paled and dug in his feet. Shuurei would not appreciate a visit from anyone at 2:37am; Ryuuren dismissed such concerns when Eigetsu brought them up, however, with a wave of his hand.

"Nonsense! … But we will bring her a gift to show our appreciation for hosting us."

Grabbing a few last things before hopping to their window, Ryuuren turned, looked at his bedraggled friend a moment, and proceeded to step down, give him a surprise Bosom Brother Hug ™, and salute before launching himself out the window.

Abandoned, and feeling a bit lost, Eigetsu debated calling Shuurei to warn her of her impending visitor…

Then decided nothing really prepared a person for Ryuuren, and went back to bed.

* * *

Nightmares.

Only nightmares made noise like that outside her window in the dead of night.

Nightmares with horrible flutes and no doubt ridiculously inappropriate, obscene, sparkling-cancan-dancing-and-feather-boa'd clothing.

Because there was no way, Shuurei growled go herself from under the pillow she'd smashed over her head, that Ryuuren was once again at her window in the middle of the night.

… because if he was, and she was caught with him in her room again, it would be a lot of trouble to talk the booking officer downtown out of the aggravated assault (and potentially murder) charges that would be brought against her by morning.

Not to mention her dorm-mother would really kick her out this time, instead of just issuing another warning.

Especially after _last_ time…

With a grumble, Shuurei peeked out of her pillow and sighed as she dragged herself from her warm, comfortable bed, and stood in front of the window, the drapes still drawn tight against the night.

(Please don't let him be there, please don't let him be there, this is all just a figment of my imagination….)

With a last quick prayer to the gods that the family insanity better be setting in early (because even that was better than what she was dreading on the other side of the curtains), the young woman yanked the drapes open, her eyes shooting an icy glare at the visitor—

--and clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle her shriek as she came face-to-face with a happy grin that hung in the air... upside down?

Instead of waiting in the tree (as usual) outside her window, Ryuuren had chosen to hang upside down from the ledge of the room above hers; with his hoodie dangling down around him and his usual feather-bedecked sweatband around his head, he hung bat-like in front of her.

And waved happily as she shook, a hand clutching her heart, gasping and floundering to regain her composure.

Letting himself in (he'd long ago proven locks didn't deter him – Shuurei had spent many hours drilling into his head the importance of notions like _privacy,_ and _entering-doors-like-a-normal-person_, and _mace_ in order to get him to at least wait for her to escort him inside), he swallowed her still-trembling form in a bear hug, and carried her over to her bed, sitting down and settling her in his lap. With all the care of a mother duck, he quickly wrapped her still-warm blankets around them and waited for her to acknowledge his great entrance. And stop shaking. And squawking and squirming. The usual hysterics he assumed were her way of saying, "Hello Bosom Buddy!" in Shuurei-ese.

(She didn't bother protesting this anymore; it had made him more creative at one point, and she reminded herself loud noise would only raise attention at the late hour.)

"Good morning, Ryuuren," she managed eventually, holding her head in her hand. Already she already felt the drag of sleep again after the initial adrenaline rush, and she rubbed her hazy eyes a bit.

"Top of the morning to you, my heart's sister!" he exclaimed, though the hand she slapped over his mouth muffled the volume and exuberance he'd imbued in its tone.

"I will hunt you down and ransom you for rent money from your family if you get me kicked out of here, so quietly! Please!" she begged, and really tried to keep the desperate edge off the more dangerous vocabulary. "Please…" She put a hand to his chest to get the message across, and try to calm him.  
He nodded, and she watched him a moment.

Slowly, slowly, her hand drifted down before falling to the blanket. She didn't really have the energy to deal with him at the moment, but it couldn't be helped. She'd stay awake… just a little bit longer. It was just so late at night, and she was so, so tired.

The student union had needed extra hands to set up the social for the exchange students arriving that afternoon, and when half had bailed, she'd had to pull a triple-shift before hitting her night class; after her reading and assignments were finished, she'd been beat. As much as she loved Ryuuren, this really was a bad time for a visit. Against her will, she let out a yawn and arranged herself more comfortably in his lap. At least he was warm. Her eyes drifted shut again as she leaned against his chest and listened to his breathing, in and out, and the rise and fall of his chest as it lulled her back into a doze.

For his part, Ryuuren watched her in return as the young woman in his arms fell back into a light sleep.

"Good news! All our classes are set up for next term – our heart's sister, brother, and I are all together, in all our classes! The online registration system worked."

"Mmmmhmmmm…. How'd you do that?" she murmured, not quite ready to surrender to full sleep when anything Ryuuren was concerned. "Don't you need our ID codes and passwords?" Another yawn-sigh escaped her lips, and she felt warm arms cradle her closer to him, and lie down with her under the covers of her bed.

"Everything worked. No need to worry. We can sit together, all three of us, in every class next term. It will be a perfect term."

Oh dear god no…

"That… that's great, Ryuuren," she mumbled in her sleep, snuggling close to the warmth that surrounded her. She was so exhausted… She would deal with the nuclear fallout of Ryuuren hacking the university system (again) when she woke up. It was too much to fight against a dead-set-Ryuuren when he got into these ideas of his, especially on less than 2 hours of sleep.

"Oh, there's more!"

He began, but Shuurei shook her head, begging for rest. "Please, tell me in the morning. I'm so tired…"

Pulling her a bit closer, Ryuuren kissed her hair, soft as a breath, as she snored lightly, already asleep.

"Ok. Good night."

After he was sure she was completely out, the young man stretched an arm behind his head, staring up at her ceiling and enjoying the warm, cozy weight of her against him in her bed.

It was a terrible ceiling. Far too plain. He'd have to remedy that at some point, he decided.

With that thought in mind, he fell asleep beside her.

* * *

When she awoke to her alarm the next morning, Shuurei was sure the previous night was a dream.

And when she looked up, she was sure she was still dreaming.

As she looked over to her door, where her dorm-mother Shusui was standing, staring agape into the room, she was beginning to think it was a nightmare.

As she looked around the drop-cloths and paint buckets strewn about her small, private dorm room, she wondered if she was delirious.

With a dawning sense of horror, she looked up, up, up to the ladder _someone_ had set up in the middle of the now-scaffolding-ridden-room, to see Ryuuren smiling happily down at her, his long, dark hair tucked up into a bun…

… and above him, on her ceiling, Botticelli's _Birth of Venus_ represented in glorious detail…

… with pandas…

… and monkeys…

… and a donkey…

Shuurei turned once again to look at Shusui, just in time to hear Ryuuren call out a, "Good morning, treasure of my heart! I didn't want to wake you, so I left you breakfast in bed."

The two women stared at each other.

"I…." Blue, blue, shocked sky-blue eyes stretched wide.

"It's ok," ground out Shuurei, desperately, shooting upright in bed (and not noticing that Ryuuren had covered her up with his hoodie to keep her warm). "I'll clean it up, I'll get rid of him, I'll bury the body, I'll--."

"I'm sorry, Shuurei," and the apology in the older woman's eyes was clear. "I can't let this one pass. Please have your things ready by the end of the day."

"But I--!"

There was a very quiet, final click as the door shut softly behind Shusui.

Shuurei stared at it a moment longer before whirling on Ryuuren.

But he just looked delighted.

"Does this mean we get to move in together?" His face suddenly glowed, and he leapt off the scaffolding, arms outstretched, to glomp an ashen, skeletal Shuurei. _"Roommie!"  


* * *

_

Eigetsu heard the wailing screams from his room, and sighed before pulling his cover tightly over his head.

* * *

Posted 23 January, 2010. MM.


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